Scrappy England muster up a victory

England's pay rebels could not hit the jackpot against Argentina at Twickenham, scrapping their way to an unconvincing 19-0 victory.

Winger Ben Cohen claimed a try which Jonny Wilkinson, who landed three penalties and a drop goal, converted, but it was hardly vintage England following the unsavoury players' strike earlier in the week.

Lock forward Martin Johnson admitted: "It was an extraordinary game. Conditions were terrible and our skill let us down. It was very difficult but there are no excuses. It was not good enough.

"A few overlaps went begging on a day when it was difficult to control the ball. We could have moved it a lot more but kicked it."

But Johnson denied the strike had had anything to do with the performance.

"What happened this week happened and there are no excuses for our performance."

Team manager Clive Woodward said: "It wasn't a great spectacle but we won. That's all we can say. It was a difficult game and a difficult week.

"We overplayed our hand and did not play that sensibly. But I am relieved.

"There was no doubt that we were going to win the game. The issue is to keep winning. We have got some big scalps and sooner or later we are going to rip a team apart.

"We have a massive game against South Africa next week."